1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a household receptacle or socket and more particularly to a household safety socket which will not conduct electricity until predetermined operations have been performed, thereby reducing the possibility of injury to children and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
According to National Electrical Code specifications, all currently manufactured household plug receptacles must be polarized. This means they have one large slot which is always grounded and one small "hot" slot from which the electrical current can be said to originate. These conventional electrical receptacles are dangerous to small children who may incur serious electrical shock and injury from sticking a screw driver, hair pin or finger into the hot slot. If the child sticks the same objects into the grounded slot, the child will suffer no ill effect. Conventional receptacles are also dangerous due to improper or loose insertion of an electrical plug in a standard receptacle which will cause a dangerous arcing of electrical current from the plug blades to the receptacle resulting in a burned receptacle face plate or a fire and possible injury to the user.
There are various known electrical safety constructions which employ various features such as switching means within the socket which must be actuated by the insertion of prong-like objects into the sockets to close the switching means before an electrical circuit will be completed. However, in most instances, the insertion of foreign objects such as screw drivers, finger nail files, or the like, would be effective to close the switching means and pose the possibility of considerable electrical harm, particularly to children.
A general definition of a safety receptacle is that it is made to prevent an unintended or accidental contact of the human body, e.g., the hand of a playing child, with any live parts of the socket. Substantially all types of receptacles or sockets include a lid or cover housing that conceals the live or potentially live parts which are accessible to the pins of a plug through openings in the front plate which is part of the cover housing or of the lid; while the openings have widths of generally less than five millimeters and are too small to permit penetration by a child's finger, there is always the danger that the child may hold a small metal piece, e.g. a nail or needle and try to explore socket in this manner. Further, when a plug is pulled from a socket by a child or a careless adult there is some danger that the hand which holds the plug while pulling will accidentally touch a part of a contact pin while the latter is still in contact with the live connector end of the receptacle socket.